Finland working to convince Turkey to resume NATO bid talks, foreign minister says

Finland’s foreign minister said he was working to convince Turkey to resume talks to ratify his country’s bid to join the NATO alliance alongside Sweden, despite stalled negotiations.

“We see all the advantages of both of us being members,” Pekka Haavisto told CBC News Network Rosemary Barton Live.

“The sooner the better.”

Twenty-eight of NATO’s 30 members have ratified Sweden’s and Finland’s requests for membership after the two Scandinavian countries submitted formal applications in May. Canada was the first to ratify the request.

But Turkey and Hungary have yet to approve a bid to join the Western military alliance.

The Turkish government has said that Sweden in particular needs to fight against members of Kurds and other exiled groups that are considered terrorists by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Last month a far-right politician burned a copy of the Koran in Stockholm and a separate pro-Kurdish demonstration was held in the capital, fueling tensions.

The Swedish government has tried to distance itself from the incident, while insisting that the protests are allowed under the country’s independence.

Trilateral talks between Turkey, Finland and Sweden have now ended. Haavisto said he continues to push his Turkish counterpart to come back to the table.

“You can see how easy it is to derail a serious security process with this kind of action,” said Haavisto.

“Of course we are trying to convince Turkey that it is also in our interests, that NATO will be strong in this situation when we have the misfortune of Russian aggression and war in Europe.”

Despite stalled negotiations, Haavisto said his country still benefits from joining an alliance with its Nordic neighbours.

“When we look at security in the Baltic Sea region, we need Finland and Sweden for better security and we have a very strong history, but also bilateral military cooperation, defense cooperation and so on,” he said. said.

“There are certain conditions and we feel that we have fulfilled the requirements and Sweden has. So we are always looking for Turkey now to be able to advance.”

Haavisto said he expects ratification before Turkey’s presidential and parliamentary elections this May.

“Unfortunately there is currently a delay in this schedule,” he said.